Alachua County schools having to adapt to tech-savvy students

Wednesday

The Alachua County school district is creating a “wireless communication devices” policy to address students who bring electronic readers and tablet computers to class.

Hunter Christian, a senior at Eastside High School, whipped out his iPad during biology class Wednesday to review his notes after a test. His tablet is a vital part of learning, the 18-year-old said.

"I think that schools that look down on the use of electronics in school are way behind the times," he said.

Tech-savvy students like Christian pose a dilemma for school districts across the country, including Alachua County Public Schools, as they grapple with the demand for personal electronics in the classroom and the need to develop policy to allow it.

The Alachua County school district is creating a "wireless communication devices" policy to address students who bring electronic readers and tablet computers to class, said Sandi Medeiros, supervisor of project development and instructional technology.

"We've seen the need growing for the last couple of years," she said.

The issue will only continue to grow if brisk sales of such devices are any indicator.

According to the Pew Research Center, 29 percent of Americans now own an e-reader or tablet. The number of Americans owning a tablet, such as the popular Apple iPad, nearly doubled from 10 percent to 19 percent between December and January.

Last week, Apple launched its own effort to sell electronic high school textbooks made by major publishers with interactive elements.

State educational leaders also are making a push for digital with the Florida Board of Education requesting a plan that would make all adopted textbooks digital by 2014.

Among Gainesville private schools, St. Francis Catholic High School equips each of its incoming students with a Macbook Pro, said Heather Duiser, the school's advancement director. More than 100 students are part of the two-year-old initiative. At graduation, students may buy their laptops for $1.

"One of our goals is for our students to be 21st century learners," she said.

Maria Bouni, an English teacher at St. Francis, said she can monitor each student's laptop — each student is given a unique user name and password — and send notes to students to get back on task or assist with work.

A proposed Alachua County policy primarily addresses personal computing devices and was developed as the district revised its instructional technology plan, Medeiros said.

"Our primary concern is a lot of our students are so digitally adept," she said. "They like taking notes on their laptops, they like reading on their Kindles."

The current policy addresses only cellphone use.

Students, under the proposed policy, would have to use the district's filtered guest wireless network in order to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act. Medeiros said that if students used their personal data plans, they'd be able to access pornography, Facebook and other non-educational websites.

Students also wouldn't be allowed to charge their devices during school, because cords stretched across walkways pose a safety hazard, Medeiros said.

The district consulted wireless policies across the state and country before proposing the new policy at a recent School Board workshop. The policy still would undergo revisions and public hearing before coming to a vote.

The policy also addresses privacy concerns, prohibiting students from taking photographs or capturing audio of students or teachers in class without written permission.

Teachers and administrators have looked to the district for guidance, Medeiros said.

"They do have some legitimate concerns that need to be addressed," she said. "That's why we're empowering the teachers to make decisions for their classroom."

Eastside Principal Jeff Charbonnet said a new policy would help ease educators' concerns and provide a way for students to use their devices.

"Why not?" he said. "It's a powerful tool."

Many educators don't see it that way, said Albert Ritzhaupt, a University of Florida assistant professor of educational technology.

"Unfortunately, most school districts that I'm aware of still ban it," he said.

Districts should see the devices as a way for students to enhance their learning, he said.

"It allows the student to engage in their natural environment," he said, consulting online research for validating information or using Google to search. "It's more of a fluid process that they're probably used to in their homes."

Ritzhaupt echoed concerns about access to detrimental content on personal data plans. Tablets, he said, also aren't of much use as note-taking devices.

"If they're just using it to take notes, they'd be better off with a pen and piece of paper," he said. "Tablets are better for browsing the Internet, listening to music and non-productive tasks."

Such devices also carry instructional implications in addition to the policy issue, Ritzhaupt said.

"Using drill and practice won't be conducive to having a device like that in class, because students could simply cheat," he said. "Teachers need to be conscious of this and need to make sure their instructional approach is conducive to having mobile devices in the classroom."

Christian, the Eastside High senior and International Baccalaureate student, said that using his iPad to take notes helps him stay on task.

"The faster I can get it written down, the better I can listen and pay attention," he said.

Playing games isn't an option, Christian said, because everyone can easily see what he's doing.

Medeiros said she takes her notes on her iPhone, so she can understand student desire to bring in their own devices.

"It's just the way a lot of children learn to do things nowadays," she said. "It's just second nature to them."

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